JUSTIN BOURNE THINKS TERRY MURRAY SUCKS…WELL, KIND OF

I love Justin Bourne. He is a solid writer, has a depth of hockey knowledge that is rare in those who write about the sport and is in tune with today’s game. A few days ago, he gave us this beauty entitled “SHOOT FROM ANYWHERE PHILOSOPHY AN OUTDATED GAME PLAN”

My favorite line from the article is something I have been screaming for three seasons about the Kings and specifically Terry Murray’s offensive system.

Essentially, throwing the puck to the net against most of today’s ‘tenders, when there isn’t any traffic, is a turnover. Hopeless shots are the equivalent of dump-and-chase in today’s NHL – why are you giving your opponent the puck for free?

That’s something that has been time-proven, where you keep putting pucks back to the net, and especially (against) goalies that are on a roll, top goaltenders in the league. You want to get them scrambling. You want to get the defensemen out of position and trying to find pucks. You just keep getting pucks back to the net, and the percentages are on your side, that it will find the back of the net.

It seems clear to me that Terry Murray doesn’t read enough, or he’s reading the wrong things in trying to develop an offensive strategy to get the Kings out of this slump. Every blog in town, including Rich Hammond, is talking about how the Kings have been figured out offensively, and yet we continue to play the same style night after night. I just can’t fathom how he doesn’t get this.

I’ve often wondered that myself. If I was the headcoach and I read somewhere that a fan had figured out exactly what I was doing, I’d change it before a team with a scouting staff and video review figured it out too, but If I was headcoach I’d probably run 3 or 4 different offensive schemes to throw everybody slightly off. I’m weird that way. Thursday looked a little better, lets hope TM continues to adjust, instead of more of the same “just work harder”.